Celtic manager Tony Mowbray said there were "no excuses" for his team after a much-changed side were held 1-1 at home by bottom club Falkirk. Celtic now have a nine-point deficit on SPL leaders Rangers. Carl Finnigan gave the visitors a 19th-minute lead after a slip by Darren O'Dea and Celtic struggled before Georgios Samaras levelled with an individual goal five minutes before the break. The home side failed to impose themselves until the final quarter but, other than an excellent free-kick from debutant Ki Sung Yeung, they could not trouble Bairns goalkeeper Robert Olejnik. Falkirk are now within a point of Kilmarnock and have a game in hand.

Danny Swanson gave Dundee United a narrow 1-0 home win against Hibernian. United leapfrog Hibs to go third in the league. Swanson scored the only goal of the game after 39 minutes with a cool finish to round off a well-worked move. Three minutes earlier, the home side were awarded a penalty for a foul on Prince Buaben by Chris Hogg on the edge of the area. Referee Steve Conroy initially appeared to point for a free-kick before deciding it was a penalty, but Graham Smith came to Hibernian's rescue by palming away a weak spot-kick from David Goodwillie. John Hughes's team threw everything at United in the second period, but could find no way past goalkeeper Dusan Pernis.

Michael Stewart's first-half penalty gave Hearts a deserved 1-0 victory over St Mirren at Tynecastle. The home skipper secured three points for his side from the penalty spot in the 23rd minute after Hugh Murray was adjudged by referee Stevie O'Reilly to have handled the ball in his own area when challenging for a high cross. Christian Nadé and David Templeton had chances to increase the lead for Hearts, who have struggled for goals at home this season, but previously in-form St Mirren carried little threat from start to finish. The win consolidated fifth position for Hearts and kept alive their hopes of breaking into the top four, while it brought to an end their visitors' run of victories.

Craig Brown won the battle of the new bosses in emphatic fashion as Motherwell beat Jimmy Calderwood's Kilmarnock 3-0 at Rugby Park. All the goals came in the second half, with Jim O'Brien netting a double before Lukas Jutkiewicz added gloss to the scoreline.

St Johnstone's game against Aberdeen was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch at McDiarmid Park.